1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video recording apparatus incorporating a programmed recording function (timer recording function) for recording a television broadcast program, and a method therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Inasmuch as the recording capacity of a recording medium used for any conventional videotape recorders or DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) recorders still remains insufficient, viewers are inconveniently obliged to frequently replace the recording medium or delete the recorded data or data files. To solve this problem, recently, a modern data video recording apparatus has become commercially available, which includes with a hard disk drive capable of recording television broadcast programs corresponding to approximately 100 hours of recording duration. Nevertheless, even if the recording capacity of any of the available recording media has been expanded, unless recorded data is adequately deleted, the available free area soon disappears in due course of time.
In JP-A-2002-305706 (See section [0025] to section [0035]), there is disclosed a video recording apparatus that records video data in a hard disk drive. The recorded files are classified into an unerasable video data file, a reproduction unfinished video data file, and a reproduction finished video data file. In the case where no free area is available for recording new video data on a hard disk drive, the new video data is recorded on the reproduction finished video data file via an overwriting process. In the case where no data file is finished with the reproduction, a confirming screen message appears on a display, and then, only when a viewer approves overwriting, the display designates that the new video data will be recorded in the reproduction pending data file via an overwriting process. The unerasable mode can be set via manual operation of a viewer when reproducing a video data file or at any optional time after completing a video recording process.
In JP-A-2001-148825 (See section [0014] to section [0028]), there is disclosed a videotape recorder having a hard disk drive. The video tape recorder disclosed in JP-A-2001-148825 classifies a video data file recorded on the hard disk drive into four data files including an unerasable reproduction unfinished video data file, a erasable reproduction unfinished video data file, an unerasable reproduction finished video data file, and an erasable reproduction finished video data file. In the case where no free area is available for recording new video data on a hard disk drive, the new video data is recorded in the erasable reproduction finished video data file via an overwriting process. In the case where no erasable reproduction finished data file exists, the above art enables another data file (with the least probability to incur an obstacle by the overwriting) to be recorded on a videotape, and then, further enables new data to be recorded in the above data file via an overwriting process.